Re: Compiling ghostscript Linux

[George White]

On Wed, 6 Dec 2000 address@hidden wrote:

> Has anyone compiled ghostscript on Linux, or have any advice?  I have
> Slackware Linux (2.2.13 Kernel) and am using gcc.  I have a lexmark 3200
> and would like to be able to print to it.  Someone has a beta version of
> some drivers you can compile into ghostscript for it.  So I believe I
> can not use the RPMs because I need to compile.  I did not see anything
> specifically for Linux in the compiling instructions, so I figured I
> would go with the Unix directions.  I went with unix-gcc.mak for a
> makefile, I changed the path for the executable (gs) to the one where gs
> 5.1 already was ( 'Sorry I don't have that path at my disposal right
> now).  I did a 
>
>  'make'
> 
> It compiled for quite a while. Then per the documention I did a
> 'make install'. It failed out and I noticed that I also had to change
> the man directory path, so I did, but still 'make install' fails out.
> 
> Any help or pointing me in the right direction would bhe greatly
> appreciated, and I can definitely be more specific on anything if I
> need to.

1.  ghostscript is relatively complex, so you should make sure you
can build simple applications first, e.g., something from a C textbook

2.  it is a good idea to compile GS with only the drivers you need -- this
saves some space and may avoid some compile problems (e.g., if your
compiler fails on a device you don't actually use). 

3.  doc/Make.htm#Linux has the linux build instructions, mostly about
problems with particular versions of libraries and compilers

4.  you should check the status of the make job -- if there was an
error the job returns a non-zero status.  I always do:

   $ make >> make.log 2>&1 & 

(using bash), which runs make in the background and saves massages
in make.log.

5.  if the make job succeeds, try running "bin/gs -h", which will
print the compiled-in paths and verify that you have a working
executable

6.  linux distributions tend to put gs in funny places and often
have more than one binary (e.g., one with X, another without).  You
can run 'oldgs -h' to find out what paths were used.


--
George White <address@hidden> Halifax, Nova Scotia